Childhood trauma moderates schizotypy-related brain morphology: analyses of 1182 healthy individuals from the ENIGMA schizotypy working group

• Published in: Psychological medicine Vol. 54; no. 6; pp. 1215 - 1227
• Main Authors: Quidé, Yann, Watkeys, Oliver J, Tonini, Emiliana, Grotegerd, Dominik, Dannlowski, Udo, Nenadić, Igor, Kircher, Tilo, Krug, Axel, Hahn, Tim, Meinert, Susanne, Goltermann, Janik, Gruber, Marius, Stein, Frederike, Brosch, Katharina, Wroblewski, Adrian, Thomas-Odenthal, Florian, Usemann, Paula, Straube, Benjamin, Alexander, Nina, Leehr, Elisabeth J, Bauer, Jochen, Winter, Nils R, Fisch, Lukas, Dohm, Katharina, Rössler, Wulf, Smigielski, Lukasz, DeRosse, Pamela, Moyett, Ashley, Houenou, Josselin, Leboyer, Marion, Gilleen, James, Thomopoulos, Sophia I, Thompson, Paul M, Aleman, André, Modinos, Gemma, Green, Melissa J
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Cambridge University Press 01.04.2024
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Adverse Childhood Experiences; Aged; Brain; Brain - diagnostic imaging; Childhood; Children; Cognitive ability; Female; Frontal gyrus; Gray Matter; Humans; Magnetic resonance imaging; Magnetic Resonance Imaging - methods; Male; Medical imaging; Mental disorders; Middle Aged; Moderation; Morphology; Neuroimaging; Personality tests; Psychological Tests; Psychosis; Questionnaires; Regional variations; Schizophrenia; Schizotypal personality; Schizotypal Personality Disorder - diagnostic imaging; Schizotypal Personality Disorder - psychology; Self Report; Short forms; Substantia grisea; Temporal gyrus; Trauma; Traumatic brain injury; Working groups; Young Adult; maltreatment; risk; adversity; thickness; psychosis; gray matter
• ISSN: 0033-2917; 1469-8978
• DOI: 10.1017/S0033291723003045

Schizotypy represents an index of psychosis-proneness in the general population, often associated with childhood trauma exposure. Both schizotypy and childhood trauma are linked to structural brain alterations, and it is possible that trauma exposure moderates the extent of brain morphological differences associated with schizotypy. We addressed this question using data from a total of 1182 healthy adults (age range: 18-65 years old, 647 females/535 males), pooled from nine sites worldwide, contributing to the Enhancing NeuroImaging Genetics through Meta-Analysis (ENIGMA) Schizotypy working group. All participants completed both the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire Brief version (SPQ-B), and the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ), and underwent a 3D T1-weighted brain MRI scan from which regional indices of subcortical gray matter volume and cortical thickness were determined. A series of multiple linear regressions revealed that differences in cortical thickness in four regions-of-interest were significantly associated with interactions between schizotypy and trauma; subsequent moderation analyses indicated that increasing levels of schizotypy were associated with thicker left caudal anterior cingulate gyrus, right middle temporal gyrus and insula, and thinner left caudal middle frontal gyrus, in people exposed to higher (but not low or average) levels of childhood trauma. This was found in the context of morphological changes directly associated with increasing levels of schizotypy or increasing levels of childhood trauma exposure. These results suggest that alterations in brain regions critical for higher cognitive and integrative processes that are associated with schizotypy may be enhanced in individuals exposed to high levels of trauma.